One of the first generation of classic high-rises to be built in downtown Tucson is set to go to auction next month.
The Pioneer Building was completed in 1929 when Tucson was still a dusty Arizona place in the desert with a population of less than 30,000. It has around 543,000 residents today and is the second largest city in the state.
Located at 100 N. Stone Avenue, the structure opened as the Pioneer Hotel in late 1929 and was hailed by the Arizona Daily Star as “one of the outstanding hostelries of the entire West.”
The fact that the building was opened just months after the start of the Great Depression was regarded by locals as a hopeful sign that life would go on despite the recent swift economic downturn.
Notable guests who stayed at the Pioneer included Eleanor Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson, Will Rogers, and the legendary Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne.
All was well at the Pioneer, which doubled its ballroom space and added a swimming pool in the early 1960s, until a devastating fire in late 1970 that took the lives of 29 people.
Efforts to repair and renovate the building were launched shortly afterwards before the structure went through a series of owners. The building was also eventually modernized and repurposed as an office building, with a new façade added.
Currently owned by the Tucson-based Holualoa Congress, the 100,000-square-foot structure will be the subject of a two-day auction beginning on May 16, with a starting bid of $1.2 million.
Designated as a Class B structure, the Pioneer Building features an average floor size of around 9,200 square feet.
The auction listing is being handled by the Tucson offices of Cushman & Wakefield. As an example of the ongoing interest in the structure, the online notice of its auction has thus far received more than 129,000 views.
By Garry Boulard